Dawn Staley will receive Temple’s annual Love for the City award

Dawn Staley, North Philly native and former Temple women’s basketball coach, will receive the annual Love for the City award given by the university’s Sports Law Program. She will accept the award during a luncheon at noon Thursday.

Staley will receive the award for her contributions toward making a positive impact on the communities where she has lived and worked.

As a player, Staley was a back-to-back Naismith College Player of the Year (1991, 1992) for the University of Virginia and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. As a coach, she is a former national champion and the current head coach of both South Carolina and the U.S. women’s national team. In 2017, she became the second African-American female coach to win an NCAA title in Division I women’s basketball (Carolyn Peck was the first, with Purdue in 1999).

Staley has credited longtime Temple men’s coach John Chaney over the years for her success. She told The Inquirer just before the women’s Final Four in 2015, “Every time we are in the tournament I think about Coach Chaney. I want him to feel a part of it, I really do. He raised me as a coach, he gave me the discipline, he set the stage, he gave an example of how you put your team in a position to win.”

Last year’s winner was Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins.

The Love for the City award, according to its website, is given annually to “an individual or organization whose contributions transcend sports. Emulating the values of the City of Brotherly Love by using sport to make a positive impact on society, the recipient possesses strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of uncertainty, and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost.”

Staley has had an award named after her since 2013. The Dawn Staley Award, created by the Phoenix Club of Philadelphia, honors the best point guard in Division I women’s basketball.